The contest gives female founders an opportunity to present their ideas to a jury, investors and a large audience. The competition is held in two stages with semi-finals in ten federal states. The Hamburg semi-final was held on May 15, 2024 in the Oberhafen. Semi-finals were also held in Heidelberg, Lübeck, Rostock, Munich, Dresden, Hanover, Frankfurt, Cologne and Berlin. One start-up from each federal state goes through to the final in St Pauli. Start-ups with at least one woman in the founding team or on the management board are eligible.
The annual Female StartAperitivo pitch contest , initiated by Hamburg Investors Network and the WEstartupSH platform, is gearing up for the finals on June 6, 2024 in Knust Hamburg. Apart from a cash prize of EUR 5,000, winners also stand to win start-up coaching and mentoring. In 2023, only 20 per cent of founders in Germany were female, according to the German Startup Monitor (DSM). On top of that, male teams secured almost nine times more venture capital in 2022, resulting in a significant gender pay gap, according to the Female Founders Monitor. Thus, various initiatives in Hamburg are now lending their support to female founders.
Hamburg now main venue
Raising visibility of female founders
The pitch contest raises networking opportunities for female founders. Various prizes make it easier for their start-ups to get off the ground. The Female Start Aperitvo 2024 is backed by Startup City Hamburg and sponsored by the Ministry of Economics and Innovation, Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (IFB Hamburg) and IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH.
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